Apparatus for extracting and refining greasy substances contained in water



E. SEPU'LGHRE.

-APPIABATUS FOR EXTRACTING AND REFININQGREAS Y SUBSTANCES CONTAINED IN'WATER. APPLICATION HLD sEPT.14. 1917.

Patented Nov. 15, '1921.v

a sHEET's-SHEET l.

LSEPULCHRE.- y lAPPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING AND REFINING GREASY SUBSTANCES CONTAINEDfIN WATER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPTM, 1917.

Patented Nov. 1'5, 1921i 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

J lllvllll WMI .--I ISL-,

E. SEPULCHRE.

APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING AND REFINING GREASY SUBSTANCES CONTAINED IN WATER.`

' APPLICATION FILED SEPT. I4. I9I7.

Patented Nov. 15, 1921.

a SHEETS-SHEET a.

\ v January 31,1916;) an

' fuNi-TED STATES PATENT oFElcE.

EDOUARD BEFULCHBE, 0F WQLUWE'BT. YIEBBE, BELGIUM.

APPARATUS ron n x'rnAc'rINe Aim unanime ennAsY sUBs'rANcEs coN'rArNnD 1N.

wA'rEnh Specication of Letters Patent.

Application led September 14, 19172 Serial No. 191,493.

To all' lwhom 'it may concer/n:

Be it lknown that I., EDOUARD SEPULCHRE,

subject of the King of Belgium, residing at Woluwe-St. Pierre', Belgium, have inyented `certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Extracting and Refining the Greasy Substances Contained in Water', gfor which I have filed ap lication in Belgium d I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention. I

The object of this invention is to realize, by means of an apparatus operating automatically and without interruption, the recovery and refining'ofaoils and greasy substances contained in condensed water, waste water from factories, etc.

For this purpose it is necessary to consider the various states in which these greasy substances are to be found:

` First, as oil dro s, bubbles, small grumes or small pieces o greasy. substances in va solid or butyrous state;

Second, as very small drops of liquid or 'articles inclosed in a water-cover, that may e very close together, without beingl actually in contact,`which would cause t ein to agglomerate; i hird, as emulsioned substancesl rwithin the water itself. In this case they lhave the appearance of cream or cloudy, greasy bodies in the liquid mass.

Water which contains a great proport` yn of grease in one or all the variousstates above-specified, invariably will have a density which is smaller lin proportion to the increase. ofr the quantity of greasy substances that it contains. Consequently `this matter which,

greasy water, being lighter, will rise. to the upper part of the receptacle containing the mixture. On the vother hand, the greasy substances generally attract very tiny filthy by nature, may remain suspended in the liquid by reason of the greasy substances that surround it.

Moreover, every oildrop, surrounded by water, gets covered withi a1 greasy pellicle, the fluidity of which is less than that of the oil itself and which for this reason may keep with it rather heavy solid extraneous dust.` i

In the case of recovery of oil in condensin water from steam-en 'nes, the greasy su stances supplied direct y by the exhaustalthough being rather heavy cock of a steam cylinder, are to a great ex-y tent and sometimes completely emulsioned by the downl and upstroke of the piston and they then appear in the water as flakes or butyrous particles Vwhich may sometimes contain metallic dust arising from the wear ofthe engine.

The emulsioned particles are disaggregated or broken up into their oil and water constituents more readily if maintained in a warm condition, the drops of oil Irising through the thick mixture. It is preferable to effect such separation within a heated, vertically extending pipe or container of relativel small diameter, the movements of the particles under the action of heat being,

assisted by the heilght of such container.

The objectA of t is invention is attained l especially bymeans of an apparatus which has at its base a separatin pot of convenient shape carrying the oi and the greasy substances to a column, wherein by the slow action of heat the thickened and emulsioned greasy substances again dissolve and disag Patented Nov. 15,1921.

Fig. "2 an elevation of the apparatus seen I from the side where the water flows out, that is from the right of Fig". l;

Fig. 3 represents atop plan view of Fi l;

ig. 4 is a' especiallyJ the section of the pipe feeding the mixture;

Fig. 5 is a section on line --BB of Fig. 1 showing the triangular shape of the conduit lfor the mixture into the separatin pot;

Fig. 6 is a partial section of t e wateroutlet showing'the cylindrical dam regulating the water level in its special position different from Fig. 1 for completely removing the oil.

The apparatus is composed essentially of a separating pot 1, o erating uninterruptedly. It is charge with the mixture through column 2 and while the light liquid, viz the 1i uid containing greasy substances.

lgoes to co umn 3 from where it is removed section lon line AA of Fig. 1,

by outlet pipe 4 and the threeway cock 5 bringing the oil to a `receptacle 6, the water or heavy 'liquid is separated into column 7 and bearing piece 8 and then carried away through tube 17. Inside the bearing piece 8 is provided `a slidable cylindrical dam 9, the height oflwhich is regulated by a screw 10 driven by a hand wheel 11.

The Vertical tube or column 2, the section of which is relatively small and provided with a cock 12, isused for bringing the mixture lof water and oil into the body of the separating pot. It is fastened by means of bolts on tube 13, the sectionI of which is flattened or triangular, as shown in Fig. 4, so as to supply the mixture into .the apparatus through a spout ofwa relatively small height. The mixture meet1ng` partitlon 28 proceeds into the apparatus through passage 14 which preferably has a triangular or roof-shaped cross section '(Fi 5) increasing in the direction of, l'low. 'Ie rapidity of flow of the mixture in this passage, in ascending direction, will diminish.

gradually and, as the heavy liquid downward-it will the section is offering to a free passage increasing progress more and more slowly, while the` oil bubbles possessing af certain lifting strength, are assisted thereby in their ascending progression gliding along the upper roof-shaped part of passage 14 and ultimately arriving under oil-colunn 3.

The water or heavy liquid flows out offthe separating pot through orifice 15 of small height and great width and proceeds up through tube 1'6 into column 7 and bearing piece 8, whence it Hows out through tube 17.

he level of the cylindrical dam 9 has to be regulated in such a manner that the height of the column of water be `such as to obtain in column 3 a vle'vel-diiference XX-YY between the surface of contact of the oil with the mixture and the bottom of outlet pipe 4 which difference will be suficient to insureV that the oil and the greas substances remain in column 3 long enoug for attaining the required degree of refinement and clarification. l

The most suitable position of the damestablished by vcalculation or experience is indicated on the outside by a mark on the handwheel 11 or indicated in any other convenient way.

In the example given, column 34 is surrounded by a double water-jacket 18 of which the upper and the lower parts maybe connected with column 7- by means of pipes `19 and 20 at convenient levels.

A circulationtsimilar to that of the termosiphons may thus take place in the double water-jacket at the temperature of the inix-l ture. Generally, the mixture of liquids supplied to the apparatus has a relativelyhigh temperature. This hot liquid rising 1n column 7 is caused to circulate through pipe however where the temperature of water is .not sufiicient, additional heat may be supplied, by means of a coil 21. The pipe 20 provides also means by which, when the water is drawn from the apparatus, practically all of the cooled water within the jacket 18 may escape. In case the water in jacket 18 becomes too `highly heated the pipe 19 affords a means for conducting away steam that may form in the jacket.

The cylindrical dam 9 is also designed to coperatein the separation of the oil and the cleansing of the apparatus. Because when the dam is raised the difference between the level of the oil and the water is diminished and the oil is forced upward, which tends to its separation. Consequently, if the dam is raised to a certain level, a quantity of oil flows out andthe oil may thus eventually be gathered successively in more and more refined and puriiied form.

When only a last layer of greasy matter,

full of foreign substances remains in column 3, the connection with receptacle 6 is closed, by. means of the threeway cock 5, and the connection with the outside is established 'through tube 22. Thenthe dam 9 is raised rIlhe above described apparatus may operate at atmospheric ressure or-at a pressure different from tlie atmospheric. The first case doesv not need any further explanation, it will be sulicieht to state that the jcleanlng aperture 23 by means of a scraper.

spaces which are not filled up with liquid be put in contact with atmospheric air. In the second case, the apparatus is connected, through pipe 2, with the bottom of a steam drying-apparatus or other device that feeds it with the' mixture of liquid at 'a pressure other -than atmospheric pressure.

` The water deprlved of its oil is preferably removed from-the apparatus through tube 17 by means of a pump. In order to obtain the proper levels of liquid in columns 3 and 7 in the apparatus as well as in the a` connecting pipe 24 is provided, branching oflinto another pipe 25, of larger diameter, which connects the device supplying the mixture to column 2 with the receptacle into which Hows the water deprivedyof its oil through tube 17. When the apparatus is Piping aangaan i close cock to let in air through cock 26 lwith slightly viscous oils,

and to take the oil out through cock 27.

The apparatus represented here ymay be operated intermittently. It is, however, especially designed for o erating uninterruptedly. It may namely charged lwith mixture without interruption, so that refined oil and water flow out continually throughv their respective outlets; it works then automatically and without stopping, there being no strainers to clean, and because the oil which is naturally thick remains in liquid condition under the action of the heat.

\ When the apparatus is used for recovering and refining oils or condensing water, the proportion of oil-gathered is very small as compared with the quantity of water the oil brought automatically to outlet pipe 4, remains thus many hours in its column and as it undergoes an uninterrupted decantation at high temperature, it will consequently be free from water and all the earthy or metallic substances which are prejudicialy to the oiling of machines.

The use of the sameg apparatus may also be veffective even at ordinar temperature x or separating heavy dust from the oils because the separation of the latter, whether -automatical or not always takes place through decanting, that is, without disturbing the lnatural. classification in the refining column.v

I claim: f v

1. Anapparatus for separating liquids of different specific gravities\cgmprising a receptacle proizided with' an inlet, for a mixture of the liquids lto be separated, and two, outlets situated.. in different horizontal planes, two vertically extending tubular receivers communicating at their ,lower ends with said outlets, the receiver for the lighter liquid extending fromv the hi her outlet f and to a greater elevatinn than t e other receiver, and means ture of t e liquids to be separated, and two outlets, oiie in its top and one in' a side wall, two vertically extending tubular receivers communicating, respectively, with said outlets, each of" said receivers having a ysuitable outlet, the outlet from the receiver that communicates with' the top of Athe 'receptacle being at a higherelevation than that from theother receiver, and means for heating the receiver for the lighter liquid that coml the receptacle being for heatingv the receiver for the lighter liquid.

outlets of the receptacle,

municates with the outlet -in the top of the receptacle.

3. An apparatus for separatingV liquids of different specific gravities, comprising a re ceptacle provided with an inlet for a mixture of the liquids to. be separated, and two outlets situated in different horizontal planes, two verticall extending tubular receivers communicating, respectively, ywith said outlets, each of said receivers having a suitable outlet, the outlet from the receiver that communicates with the higher outlet from the receptacle being i'i a plane above that from the other receiver, a cylinder surrounding and spaced from the receiver for the lighter liquid that communicates with the higher outlet of the receptacle, and pipes, as 19, 20, connecting the space between said cylinder and inclosed receiver with the other receiver for causing a/'circulation of liquid therein. z

4. An apparatus for separating'liquids of different specic, gravities, comprising a receptacle provided with aninlet for a mixture of the liquids. to' be separated, and two outlets situated in diierent horizontal planes, two vertically extending tubular receivers communicating, respectively, with said outlets, each of said receivers having a suitable outlet, the outlet from the receiver that communicates with the higher outlet from the receptacle being in a plane above that from the other' receiver, a cylinder'surrounding andspaced from the receiver for the lighter liquid thatl communicates with the higher outlet of the receptacle, and a heating coil within -the space inclosed by saidcylinder. y 'l -1.,

5. ln an apparatus 4for the. purpose described the, combinationof a receptacle having an inlet and two outlets located respectively intlie top theenlet to the Yout t in the top and inclined transversely in opposite directions downward from a line connecting .said inlet and outlet, a partition within 'the receptacle extending into the path of liquid' entering the inlet and forming the bottom of a passage adapted to guide the lighter liquid to the outlet in the top of the receptacle, two tubular receivers extending vertically from the and means for heating the receiver that communicates with the outlet in the top of the receptacle.

In testimony whereotl I aiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

4EDOUARD SEPULGHRE. Witnessesz' PAUL Rico, F.- BALAND.

and a side wall, theto of inclined upwardly rom 

